Do you see that sad little pencil begging for freedom from his dumpster fate? Well, he’s kind of important because he and his friends were the last surviving “manufactured educational display” in my classroom and I recently bid them a sad farewell.

It was a bit bittersweet because they had been with me for so long....

too long...

like more than a decade.

I thought they were cute. I thought they were handy. I mean kids NEED to know about punctuation and editing marks, correct?

But do you know what? They in that decade+ I can’t recall ever, ever, ever seeing one of my friends (and I’ve taught Kindergarten, first, second and third grade in that time) look to these quirky little pencil friends for guidance. Instead, it was always the charts we had created together in class that were getting all the love.

Research says that kids need to “anchor their learning” by creating these charts, but I don’t always believe the latest “research.” In regards to this though I would say it is spot on. My friends are constantly looking to the visuals we have made together as a reference. They look up from where they are sitting. They get out of their seats to get closer looks. They ask about charts that have been retired when they need some info. Clearly these were effective.

The pretty charts, posters, diagrams, etc that I had spent a small fortune on over the years at the teacher stores...not so much.

We made the charts so often that I was always at a loss for where to hang them.

It’s not possible to leave them all up all year so I was at a loss for what to do with that information that they would still need at a later date.

These were my solutions which may be helpful to others.

To solve the problem of not liking the “messy” factor...

I plan out the “bones” on my charts when I am writing my lesson plans. While the bulk of the content is generated by the students, the framework for the chart is mine. I find that having a plan is helpful.

If the chart is going onto the wall, I use the opportunity to model the steps of the writing process. I am always teaching my students that our published work needs to be our best quality and this is no different. If I make a chart with the students that I don’t feel is of “display quality,” I explain that it is a draft. We write the words “Rough Draft” onto the chart. I have them analyze it with me to discuss how it could imporve (more color, neater handwriting, more visuals, etc.), make note of their suggestions and then create a similar, but spiffier version after school. Prior to hanging it up, I put the two side by side and encourage student discussion about why the new chart is ready to be “published.” I have found that this has helped so much with teaching them about editing and the importance of putting forth your best work efforts. I always let a student take home the original...and often try to pick a student who will most benefit from it’s content.

I am NOT an artistic person. I am creative, but I am not artistic. They are clearly not one in the same. That’s where I cheat a bit. I may add in photographs or glue on clipart. I use fun fonts as a guide when printing my letters. I add borders using ribbon or tape. Or I’ve also been known to farm out the final copy to much more artistic colleagues.

To solve the problem of not knowing where to hang them...

I created designated spots for my charts this year. I’ve already blogged about that. You can read all about it here.

To solve the problem of being on chart-overload and not knowing what to do with the abundance of resources...

I actually have a few ideas.

I plan to take a picture of each and every chart. I am going to use those pictures in a few ways.

#1 I’ll use a binder to create a “photo album” of our charts. My plan is to use tabbed sections for each subject.

#2 As we begin building up a collection, I may reduce them in size to fit several on a page and make a photocopy for each students’ notebook.

#3 I will build an ongoing Powerpoint presentation that the kids can access on the classroom computers and that I can use to project the charts onto the smartboard for future reference.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that while I love making anchor charts with my students AND while I find that they reference them all the time, I don't always know where to put them. Because real estate is at a premium in any classroom and spots are often already spoken for, I found that the charts frequently ended up getting hung wherever there was space available at the time they were made.This was problematic for a couple of reasons:

And then I added more border (in the form of ribbons) to further define the space and leave it looking like something belonged there.

Here’s the part that I’m tooting my own horn and high-fiving myself about...

In each of the designated anchor chart spaces I hot glued a pinch-style clothespin to the background fabric. That way all I need to do is pop the charts right into them. If I want to pull it down to reference during a small group or move it closer to a group working on a related task it will be super easy,

And because you know I am all about the small details that make things extra special, I added a small strip of scrapbook paper that coordinates with my classroom decor.

I will show off my other designated spots as we continue to travel around my classroom over the next few weeks.

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